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More reports in Capitol Hill credit card fraud wave

More than 20 new reports of fraud were filed with Seattle Police on Friday as news of a credit card fraud wave spread across Capitol Hill. We’ve mapped the block location of the new reports below as well as provided a citywide view of the reports to show just how concentrated on Capitol Hill this wave appears to be. There are also dozens of anecdotes about similar crimes in the comments on our first post on the story.

We had previously reported 14 official police reports of fraud in the Capitol Hill area logged between Monday and Thursday this week. Add 23 more that came in Friday as word of the story spread. Each dot represents the block location of where a person made a fraud report to police. Basically, it shows approximate location of where victims live (or work if they called while on the job) on the Hill.

This second view below will give you a better sense of how centered on Capitol Hill this problem appears to be.

In the comments on our first post, Girlvslaser points to a very similar situation that began in a Texas community earlier this month.

What makes the transactions significant is that people are trying to use them in multiple states across the country, Cox said. At this point it appears to be a more organized operation than a novice who stumbled onto the card numbers.

In that situation, the City of San Angelo Police Department issued a press release as soon as the wave was identified. Bad news: We didn’t find a press release titled “Mystery Solved.”

We are contacting victims, banks and businesses in the area to gather more information and are contacting the federal agencies involved in tracking credit card fraud to find out what they are doing about this situation.

If you have found that your account was compromised, contact your financial institution and then report the fraud to SPD at (206) 625-5011 (non emergency line).

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girlvslaser
13 years ago

in the previous post comments, several people drew connections to the big qfc on broadway. it won’t be conclusive by means, but i’d be interested to know how many people used a card at qfc and experienced fraud, as well as how many people experienced fraud without the QFC link… and it’s is completely possible there are multiple sources of the fraud. it’s also completely possible that every person on capitol hill has used their card at qfc. who knows, maybe there’s only one checkout that’s compromised, and it’s not their whole system. not a scientific poll by any means, but i think it will be interesting data to collect.
************
update:

i deleted the spreadsheet. it wasn’t yielding anything meaningful, anyway.

ProstSeattle
ProstSeattle
13 years ago

The problem with the possible link to QFC may very well be coincidental. When you see the concentrated map of fraud on Capitol Hill, you realize most of (or possibly) all have shopped at QFC, as its the only major grocery serving the neighborhood. I know there is another QFC 10 blocks south, or a Safeway ESE of here, but most people on foot will go to the nearest grocery.

So before we all go pointing our fingers at QFC and saying, aha, that’s the common link, there may very well be other reasons.

And before I get flamed for being a QFC employee, no, I am not. I do shop there, and I don’t have any qualms about using my card there.

sofiasabotage
sofiasabotage
13 years ago

QFC at Broadway & Pine? Or QFC at Broadway & E. Republican?
Remember there’s two on Broadway and they’re both pretty big.

I shop at the E. Republican one on a daily basis and have not experienced fraud. So, it could be that only one terminal is being effected or that there are more than one store/restaurant/grocery store/atm that also has a skimmer.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

When I suggested that the Broadway QFC might be implicated (in a comment thread above), it was because both my wife and I were victims, and the Broadway QFC was the only business where we had both used our cards.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

One more comment. Although the Broadway QFC is the only common element in my wife’s and my identity theft, I continue to shop and use my card there.

If the pattern of fraud points to that store, the data analysis by the banks and card companies has already revealed that fact. And if so, I would expect that the QFC has been contacted and has already strengthened its card processing security. I looked for the store manager while I shopped there last night, in the hope of getting some inside info, but I did not see him. I’ll try again today.

sofiasabotage
sofiasabotage
13 years ago

I’d just like to say without getting yelled at… My theory is that if it is happening at QFC. It could possibly be one employee who is using the skimmer. Therefore, it could be happening at different dates and times depending on when they work. Also, this could be the answer to why everyone who has shopped at QFC is not getting scammed. I am not a detective, of course. And neither is anyone else. I guess we are just supposed to sit back and wait til it gets big enough (which I consider it big enough already) for an investigation. That’s why everyone should report it to the police!

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

Yes, yelling is bad. I am typing very quietly as I write this.

Skimming at QFC seems unlikely given their card reader hardware. As I noted above, if QFC is implicated, someone likely breached the security of their card processing system and took a “snapshot” of the card data temporarily stored in it while transactions are being processed. This may have happened more than once.

But I’m only speculating, so take it with a big grain of salt.

girlvslaser
13 years ago

i mean the one at republican.

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

Too many numbers to be anything but QFC or a teller machine.

And getting numbers is just phase one. They are sold to a much bigger operation, new cards are created, where is the new card machine? – then supplied to users world wide, quite a network.

FAR BIGGER than local punks.

Since all losses are insured, I suspect local police are not to hyped about this ….oh, supposed to be all sweet. Also might be very complicated investigation, lots of people, privacy issues, PR issues, takes real computer know how, and SPD short staffed ….. pot busts and vice stings are onerous work.

Interesting stuff, a modern hazard which undermines our sense of well being.

Aaron
Aaron
13 years ago

I think there’s more going on than just the QFC – I was contacted by Amex on Thursday about a fraudulent charge in Canada. The only place on or near the Hill where I’ve used my Amex in the last month is the Union 76 Station on the north end of Broadway, using the swipers at the pump. I never use my Amex for grocery shopping, so I’m confident that QFC wasn’t involved here.

jseattle
jseattle
13 years ago

I hope it’s clear at this point that no matter how many people name a business, it’s not going to result in a definitive answer. Please don’t name businesses in speculation about where this might have occurred. I’m doing everything I can to get authorities to go on record and as soon as I have useful information, I’ll publish it. If you see activity in the neighborhood or really want to let me know about your hypothesis, please send mail to [email protected]

seandr
seandr
13 years ago

and I regularly to at the Broadway Market QFC. I always use self-checkout.

I also regularly go to Union 76 on north Broadway.

MB
MB
13 years ago

I rarely use my debit card, in October I’ve only used it at Seattle U. post office and to purchase Groupons online. Other than that, I had some transactions in August, which do include a QFC purchase. (Not sure which Cap Hill location… and why would they wait until late-Oct?)

Groupon would make sense… but not sure why it would be focused only on Cap Hill.

Matt
Matt
13 years ago

I just found 4 charges from my card today (10/30/2010). The charges were coming from Fort Wayne, Indiana. One at a gas station called Ricker Southtown and three more at a gas station called Marathon Oil. The charges equalled $284.76. I use my card all over the Hill so I don’t know where or who could be doing this. Police don’t seem to be to concerned either which sucks.

kristyjojo
kristyjojo
13 years ago

I’ve used my debit card at the “large grocery store” 10/9 and 10/23 and at the “area gas station” 10/12.

lucky so far
lucky so far
13 years ago

if indeed it is happening at qfc, the info would have to be being intercepted in real time. as e.s. pointed out, the hardware they use never calls for the checker to touch your card, so no chance of it happening under the counter.

it couldn’t be a database breach, because your PIN is never written to a local database. (if it is, there should be a criminal investigation of that practice in general.)

that would only leave interception of the info as it happens, potentially also including a tiny, hidden camera observing PIN entry. it sounds from many people i have spoken with, as if lots of the fraudulent charges are at point of sale. that would imply that PIN’s are being harvested, along with mag stripe info.

SB81
SB81
13 years ago

I just canceled my card due to a denied charge of over $700 to my chase debit card from METRO-NORTH TVM.

SB81
SB81
13 years ago

What if someone is stealing info from my “blink” card, because u can wirelessly pay for stuff without swiping!

DNP
DNP
13 years ago

haven’t used my card for anything but making atm deposits/withdrawals at the BECU ATM in the Broadway Market, discovered charges (apparently at a smoke shop and at a convenience store in Pennsylvania) were made to my account when I got home last night. fortunately it’s my secondary account the card is linked to. scary.

girlvslaser
13 years ago

okee doke, sorry about that. it’s not yielding anything meaningful anyway, as i suspected it wouldn’t. i deleted the spreadsheet.

Swift Albero
Swift Albero
13 years ago

BECU called me last Tuesday and told me that my card had been swiped at a grocery store and gas station in a city in Italy called Cernusco sul Naviglio. They charged a combined total of just over $400. I was confused because I was physically holding my card in my hand, so how does anything get swiped? They told me that they made a plastic replica of card containing my information to complete the transaction.

I thought I was just an isolated case until I went out last night, and it was a topic of conversation among friends and strangers alike.

ERF
ERF
13 years ago

I would look for a common denominator. Do all the victims have the same phone service or such that they have the credit or debit card listed for auto pay? That account data could have been sold by a employee over the internet in batches grouped by zip code. That would account for the pattern as well. The data could have been stolen months/years ago and the thieves just now working through the list to see which cards still work. That is most likely what STD Solutions is.

Brian
Brian
13 years ago

My card number was used early today in Dubai. Verity Credit Union has already reversed the charge and I have a new card, so the matter should be resolved. I live in Queen Anne but frequent Capitol Hill.

kb
kb
13 years ago

What sort of information does it take for this to occur? Is just the card number and expiration enough? Or do you have to have the pin or the 3 digit security code on the back? Because if it’s just the number and the expiration it seems like that’s SO easy to obtain – that gets printed on credit slips and an employee could walk off with a stack anywhere.

c-doom
c-doom
13 years ago

Just curious. Skimmers are possible, but note the distribution of the fraudulent use people have reported so far — its worldwide. So if someone put a skimmer on locally they’d be part of a group relaying cards internationally. Possible, but the more likely compromise vector here seems to be someone’s database of credit cards being thefted.

As for the guy saying dont post store names, that sort of defeats the purpose of blogging / commenting. People are free to use the information posted in any way they choose. Id say post anything you have, be as truthful as you can, and let people decide how they wish to use the information. Better informed is better protected.

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

Today, my FB friends, most on the Hill are all buzzing – many, many more cases are coming to light – one thread involving a drag celeb. has ten people posting the same problem.

This is massive, I suggest – hundreds of victims. Speculation seems to revolve about three or four locations on the Hill, thus my theory that there is a hack on batch feeds or other systems to the banks …. pro theft system, international stuff.

Banks seem to be cool, they want to keep the client anger down and lower the bad PR, so they are being helpful it seems.

As commented here in several places, police seem flat about the topic which is hard to explain in the face of massive fraud involving good citizens, the ones with active credit cards in a recession ….. go figure. (has SPD put out an advisory anywhere?? The FBI or Secret Service can tell them what to say)

AND, it continues ….. most interesting. Fiscal mystery on the Hill.

ERF
ERF
13 years ago

I just read through both articles and posts. Due to the amount of victims, the short amount of time involved, and the fraudulent charges being from around the world, it really looks like a list was posted to an Internet site these thieves trade numbers on. The small charge from some dummy company is just to verify if the account is still good or not.
As to where the information came from and when was it stolen. It sounds like a system/database administrator copied a database from a mobile phone company, credit union or bank. It could be a credit card processing company, but that would only have the information contained in the magnetic strip on the back of the card. A copy or partial copy of a database would have all the information needed to answer any security challenge questions. It would also allow the thieves to pick people by area code or zip code. They may even be the ones that posted the data online for others to use to make it more difficult to track the origin of the theft.
I’m guessing the thieves that bought the data have never set foot in this country, and the seller no longer works at where the data was stolen.
As soon as law enforcement figures out the common link between the victims they’ll be able to tell where the data came from and how much bigger the potential victims list could be.

jseattle
jseattle
13 years ago

‘the guy’ also is reporting on this and moderates the site.

The bottom line is naming businesses isn’t going to result in any answers and can do real damage to the ones named. There is a possibility that this involves multiple local businesses. There is a possibilty this involves no local businesses. There is a possibility the information was stolen recently. There is a possibility it was stolen long ago. But all you get when people list business names is a list of places on Capitol Hill where people shop.

I’m open to discussion about it though. What proof will come in compiling lists of ‘suspects?’

jseattle
jseattle
13 years ago

So you’re saying the geographic cluster is due to selecting only a certain Zip or set of Zip codes from a larger dataset? Why do that?

Thorgar
Thorgar
13 years ago

There isn’t a simple answer here. I have had AMEX and VISA cloned. The AMEX only gets used at restaurants and the VISA in non-restaurants. I only buy groceries with my Wells Fargo debit card, and it hasn’t had a problem.

Matt
Matt
13 years ago

I bank at Chase. I and so far at least 7 other people I know who live or spend time on the hill have been hit in the last few days, and at least one of those people banks at Wells Fargo. I haven’t been to the QFC on Republican in months.

We’ve all had charges in different states too. Liquor stores in one, wal-mart in another, target in another.

Seems a lot bigger than one skimmer. And a lot creepier too.

c
c
13 years ago

I previously noted that my roommate had been a victim, but today I woke up to a notice that someone spent almost $800 at some commuter services Metro center in New York. Chase immediately canceled the card and put a new one in the mail, but it’s still incredibly inconvenient.

CapHillneighbor
CapHillneighbor
13 years ago

I have not been hit, but am following the story, and checking my accounts daily, as I live and shop on the Hill. Just tossing an idea out there: could it be that someone is tapping wireless Internet connections? Because it seems like if it were a business on Cap Hill, the victims would be more diffuse – from surrounding neighborhoods that Broadway draws from, too. Therefore, the fact that so many victims live in the area may point to something to do with the Internet. Just curious how many victims use wireless and shop/bank online?

Kim
Kim
13 years ago

I tried calling the SPD number listed above multiple times to report my fraudulent charge and the number doesn’t work, it just keeps ringing.

Jeff P
Jeff P
13 years ago

The fraud I experienced matches the MO of everything I have read.

I do not live on the hill and have only used my card there at 7 or 8 locations, ever.

Broadway QFC once, like 7 months ago. So no.

I am not listing the locations I have used it, even though I have such a limited number of places ever, because that is how rumors are started.

Jeff P
Jeff P
13 years ago

Of the two purchases that went through and the three my credit union stopped (SMCU) they were all purchases at gas stations.

If the thieves are so sophisticated, why use gas as an exchange to dollars? Seems like a large risk to take for free gas.

jseattle
jseattle
13 years ago

Given global nature of transactions and that purchases appear to involve physical world transactions, seems likely the numbers have been sold/distributed. Who knows where middlemen took a profit or where hacker challenge involved passing the numbers on.

ticked
ticked
13 years ago

There’s folks who open accounts all the time. If, as is the case with me, the card was brand new, you know where it had been used. That would provide clues. I used the hacked card @ precisely 3 places EVER. BECU machine, QFC and 76. All places easily hacked.

ERF
ERF
13 years ago

The zip code might have been picked as a test case to verify the entire purchased data was good. I’m just gussing at this point. However due to the one locality it increases the likelyhood of being able to tell where the data came from.

dinglebarry
dinglebarry
13 years ago

unsecure Wi-Fi…

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

No – not from the cardholder. Long conversation with people scammed today, none do on line stuff with their cards…. all used on Broadway – and two places emerge, QFC and a bar, no cars.

My money is on QFC and theft of numbers used there in some fashion or another. There are card thieves out there and it doesn’t, NOT at all accuse QFC. I wonder why one might think that? All are victims, cardholder, store, bank issuer.

A puzzle – just how modern net fraud works, and open conversation and honest opinions seem like a good thing.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

Interesting information. The Broadway & Roy Union 76, BECU ATM at Broadway Market, and the Broadway QFC are among the most mentioned businesses in the comments to the two stories on the fraud. Your experience reinforces the impression that security breaches somehow connected to those three places may be at the root of this problem.

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

The problem could be third party processors – there are many systems that work with retail points of sale and then sell the paper to Banks, allowed to use the charge systems created by Visa, Mastercharge, etc.

Possible some tap is being made on the third party processor, shared in this area due to great rates. Bet QFC does not have its own system back to the banks.

Remember the bank role to the consumer is to issue the card and charge interest/fees for the use of the money. Very lucrative by the way.

Wonder?

GDL
GDL
13 years ago

If anyone else is keeping a tally of victims, please add me =(! The ironic thing about this whole insanity is that I just spoke with 3 SPD officers this morning patroling Broadway about this crime wave, UGH!!!

Is there another SPD # we can call to report? This is a “credit card fraud” and can ot be reported online. Any help on reporting is appreciated!

@tidbitbistro
@tidbitbistro
13 years ago

One of our cards got hit too. About $1500 were charged on our Wells Fargo Visa Credit Card…and an important payment got declined. Not good! Non va bene!
– tidbit

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

MWC, your suggestion that a third party credit card processor is the fraudsters’ point of entry seems completely plausible. Not sure how the BECU ATM fits into this scenario, but I’m curious if the other two aforementioned businesses share a common third-party processor.

As far as we know, the various bank and card security teams may have already explored this hypothesis, and either confirmed or discarded it.

But in the absence of any hard news, we humans sure love to speculate, don’t we? Especially when we are trying to understand how we just got ripped off (or nearly so) for hundreds of dollars. Evolution made us the animals that look for patterns. We can’t help it!

KWS
KWS
13 years ago

I’m not sure why you think comparing places our cards were used wouldn’t result in any answers. Also, it should be our choice if we want to frequent those businesses or not. Saying where we used our cards is not speculation, it’s the truth and keeping our mouths shut about where we went will not locate the problem. I only used my brand spanking new debit card in two locations. So I have a timeframe AND a location, but I suppose i can’t mention it here because evidently that wouldn’t help.

EWWW
EWWW
13 years ago

My brand new card was only used at two places: QFC and 76 on Broadway.

Candice
Candice
13 years ago

We’re at the Harvard QFC all the time and haven’t had any fraud. HOWEVER we had a cloning/fraud issue after going to the Shell on Broadway several months ago. I blamed it on Shell because it was the only ‘unusual’ place I went but who knows what really happened.

R.P.
R.P.
13 years ago

Not unsecured WiFi. Virtually all established retailers, banks, etc will use 128-bit encryption using SSL. This type of connection is secure even on an open WiFi network … ask any of your techy friends. No one’s going to wirelessly sniff out your credit card information by banking or shopping over unsecured WiFi.

A more likely scenario is that the numbers were stolen from skimmers over the course of several months … perpetrated by an international criminal organization or sold to an international organization, and sold/distributed to interested parties the world over.

I live and shop on Capitol Hill and was thankfully not hit this week. I checked all my transactions in the last few months. I use plastic virtually everywhere except for cab rides and cash-only merchants.

joshwhiskey
joshwhiskey
13 years ago

I just got a new card only a few days before fraudulent charges showed up on the east coast. I only made a handful of transactions prior to the theft, so it should make it easy to narrow down.

Also, I don’t agree with the idea of not posting the business names. The businesses need to know if their equipment, website, or credit card vendor has been compromised. Most likely it’s not their fault, one crooked employee could be responsible for all of this.

That said, here is the full list of my (only!) purchases:

Pagliacci (Cap Hill),
7-11 (Ballard),
QFC (Ballard),
The Hi-Life (Ballard),
Bizzarro (Wallingford),
76 gas station (Kirkland),
Java Bean coffee (Ballard),
The Coppergate (Ballard),
Brown bear car wash (Freelard)

I posted this list on another forum, and the only matches were Pagliacci and QFC. What do you guys have?

Kenny
Kenny
13 years ago

I don’t think it’s QFC. I’m starting to think it’s the 76 station on the north end of Broadway. Those are the only two places I’ve used my card on the Hill, apparently like a lot of other readers.

Joel T
Joel T
13 years ago

What is the other forum you speak of?

Jennifer Frey
Jennifer Frey
13 years ago

Add two more to this growing list. My girlfriend got the call from First Tech credit union on 10/28 and I got a call on 10/30 from BECU telling us our accounts were frozen due to possible fraud, which we confirmed. No way I can get from Seattle to a South Carolina Food Lion in 10 minutes.

Neither of us have shopped at a QFC in well over 6 months.

J
J
13 years ago

My card was compromised early last week. Then I just saw this article about other people in Capitol Hill. My card was used to charge over $700 at Metro-North in NY as well! I have not yet filed a police report, so I’m not yet represented on the green dots, but I will be calling them today.

MadValley
MadValley
13 years ago

My spouse and I had three of our cards compromised this week, all three from different banks, and none that we have in common. Charges were in Pakistan, Brazil, and Yemen. We thought it was just us till we talked to a friend on the hill and found he’d had the same thing happen.

We spend a lot of time on the hill, and I’ve used my card that was stolen at the QFC, but never t he 76. The hubby has never used either of his at either place.

Pixi
Pixi
13 years ago

At least BECU called you guys to warn you; I bank with Chase and had over $2,000 of my money spent at Wal-marts in GA and KY over the span of a week. (They never spent more than $100 at once and it never triggered any balance warnings.) Next morning my roommate found that she’d apparently spent a few hundred at a Wal-mart in TX. Epic fail.

We both live off the end of Broadway and use our cards there frequently, but I highly doubt it’s just one Broadway-specific business. Hoping they figure this out soon.

Jeremy
Jeremy
13 years ago

Both my roommate and my debit card account was compromised after using one of the City of Seattle parking sticker machines (different locations). Time to go back to using cash.

Katie S
Katie S
13 years ago

yeah, too bad those machines don’t take bills though! Boo!

Elizabeth
Elizabeth
13 years ago

A charge of $9.70(I know,it could be worse) has been pending on my Chase account since Sunday 10/31/10.Chase can’t do anything until the transaction is complete.It’s from STD Solutions with a land line number of:1-800-449-0299. It’s just a recording.I just canceled my card.I don’t live on Capitol Hill but I’ve been to made 3 credit transactions there in the last month.

Elizabeth
Elizabeth
13 years ago

Sorry about that, I meant to say I’ve been to 3 merchants on Capitol Hill in the last month. I hope this all gets solved:)

LM
LM
13 years ago

I got hit, too. :(

lilie
lilie
13 years ago

Most of my purchases are made in a neighborhood apart from Capitol Hill and I haven’t used my card on Capitol Hill since early September. Today there were fraudulent charges made to my card in PA at a gas station and then of course there was a small charge from STD Solutions. Thinking it may have more to do with a particular business than a location, unless they have been collecting numbers for some time. Needless to say, I’ll probably be paying for most things in cash for a while.

Aly
Aly
13 years ago

Both of us were hit (mine had a charge of $900 in the Dominican Republic at a men’s clothing store, and his for $1200, $300 and $300 for STD Solutions), and neither of us have shopped at Capitol Hill within the last week, save a few coffee shops. I have Chase and he has BECU.

However, we’ve both shopped at the grocery store in question and the gas station in question in Magnolia several times. Could they be linked?

Sam
Sam
13 years ago

So if you have had your credit/debit card hacked and you used it on Capital Hill how do you add yourself to the list of people that were affected?

callthecops
callthecops
13 years ago

call the cops

ABH
ABH
13 years ago

Same here…had small charge from STD Solutions. Closed the card down and had bank send another one.

West Hollywood
West Hollywood
13 years ago

I live in L.A. and was just frauded myself. I received a call from Chase alerting me to suspect activity on my account. Apparently the culprits, rang up a 7.40 cent charge to test my account and make sure it was still valid. Minutes later they credited back the 7.40 so that my balance would still be the same. hour later they were off to Macys to do some “A-list” style Christmas shopping. Good thing Chase cottoned on and put a hold on the account and thwarted their plan. My card is now closed.